Sajid Mansuri is 35, cocky, well-read, speaks fluent English and looks at his interrogators unwaveringly in the eye. One of the ten men in custody for the Ahmedabad blasts, is emerging as the cold face of terror. A bachelor's degree in psychology perhaps helps him outsmart the cops. While nine hooded men were produced before the media for a photo-op last week, there was one flashing the victory sign. That was Sajid, confidence personified. He was the one who organised the SIMI meeting in Surat in 2001 where 123 workers were arrested. This smart one gave police the slip and had wrong-footed them ever since. For joint CP, Ahmedabad crime branch, Ashish Bhatia, who was posted in Surat in 2001 and is now heading the serial blasts probe, Sajid is the prize catch. A native of Surat and father of two kids, Sajid had been living in Lukman Park Society in Bharuch when he was picked up. He moved to Bharuch soon after the Jaipur blasts, living there as Sajjad. He used to tell his acquaintances that he traded in acid and phenol. His son was studying in an elite English medium school in Vadodara, had his father's real name and address in the diary, which is how the police found him.

An intrrogator said, "His dream was to herald an era of Islamic rule in the country." He never loses his cool and is unflappable facing tough questions. An interrogator's delight, Sajid was the link between the brains and the executors of the blasts. He has told all in the first two days of his 14-day remand itself, opening up links in the Jaipur and Mumbai serial blasts. "He is a no-nonsense man. When we pose dummy questions, Sajid is seldom fooled. He waves them off and comes to the point," said a police investigator. The blast mastermind Mufti Abdul Bashar Kasmi relied on Sajid because of his ability to pick the right people for the operation.

Ahmedabad blasts, SIMI activist Bashir confesses his role

Mufti Abu Bashir had been a madrasa teacher in Hyderabad, where he came in contact with the hardline SIMI faction led by Safdar Nagori. After Nagori's arrest in March 2008 in Madhya Pradesh, Bashir took up the task of carrying out the Ahmedabad blasts, police had said earlier. Bashir had stayed for two months in a rented house in Ahmedabad's Vatva locality which he made his base to plan and execute the blasts, police said. It was Bashir who had briefed other SIMI activists before the blasts. Police said these meeting were held in Bapunagar and Juhapura areas. After the explosions, Bashir left for his home in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. A joint team of police in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh had nabbed him from his residence.

The alleged mastermind of the serial blasts, Bashir, has admitted that he was involved in the July 26 bombings that left 55 people dead, Crime Branch sources said. Bashir, whose arrest was announced on August 16, is currently in 14-day police custody and being grilled by the city Crime Branch officials. "So far in his interrogation, he has confessed to his involvement in the Ahmedabad blasts," the officials said. "Though Bashir is cooperating in interrogation, he is not revealing much details. He is just giving short replies to the questions asked by the officials. Most of his replies are in yes and no," they said. He has, however, not said anything about his suspected involvement in the Jaipur and Hyderabad blasts, the officials said. “He is an important member of Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and many other names are coming out in the investigations. He has revealed many things and there are clear cut indications of his involvement in the Ahmedabad blast,” says DCP crime branch Adhay chudasama. “He was involved in the planning and training of the people,” he added.

The other SIMI activists accused in the bomb blast case were also remanded to 14-day police custody

Meanwhile, Ahmedabad Police has also sealed a two-room flat of the Ahmedabad serial bomb blast accused Imran Ibrahim Sheikh in the communally sensitive Bawamanpura locality that was allegedly used for providing shelter to SIMI activists and assembling of bombs prior to the July 26 terror attack. The flat, located in the third floor of the four-storeyed Akmal Complex, was reportedly visited by another blast mastermind Abdul Subhan alias Taufique four days ahead of the blasts in Ahmedabad.

According to police sources, Taufique, who went underground after successfully executing the plan, stayed in the flat for a couple of days to help assemble the bombs with other senior SIMI activists involved in the crime. The flat, now being guarded by Jawans of the Gujarat State Reserve Police, would be opened when a team of Ahmedabad Crime Branch, investigating the blast case, would arrive here with Forensic experts later this evening, sources said. Twenty-two-year-old Sheikh was picked up by the crime branch sleuths from his Taiwada residence in the city early this month after it was revealed during investigation that he had not only sheltered the SIMI activists, but also played a key role in the entire conspiracy.

Meanwhile, city police have arrested one Mohammad Umar Abdul Gani Qureshi, owner of Masoom Apartment in the Panigate area of the city, for allegedly giving one of his flats to arrested SIMI leader Sajid Mansoori on rent, way back in 2005. Querishi was booked under section 188 of the IPC for not giving details about his tenant to the police, which had been made mandatory for every landlord in the city by an order of the police commissioner.